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Dutton, DavidSimon - A Political Biography of Sir John SimonLondon Aurum Press 1992 1854102044 / 9781854102041 First Edition Hard Cover Fine Very Good A Fine unmarked copy with VG dustjacket which has some fading and is not price clipped and has a protective cover fitted. x + 364 pages. From 1906-1945 Sir John Simon's influence upon the political scene was profound, and his collection of the great offices of state - Home Office, Foreign Office, Exchequer and Woolsack - remains unique; yet the man himself was a puzzle to his contemporaries and remains one still. A man with whom, by all accounts, it was not easy to get on with (Harold Nicholson likened him to 'a toad and a worm'), Simon possessed an acute intellect and a brilliant legal mind. Elected Liberal MP for Walthamstow in 1906, he became at the age of 37 the youngest Solicitor General since the 1830's. By 1914 Simon was riding high, viewed as a possible successor to Asquith, but his resignation from the subsequent post of Home Secretary over the conscription issue saw his career floundering amid the turmoil of Liberal disunity and decline, and despite a period as Deputy Leader, Simon became increasingly disaffected with his party. In 1931 he formed a separate organisation to contest the election with the Conservatives and with MacDonald's National Labour supporters and was duly rewarded with the post of Foreign Secretary; his tenure of that office has been described as 'disastrous' and 'surely the worst in modern times'. His handling of the Manchurian crisis, and in particular his keynote speech to the Special Assembly of the League of Nations were to haunt him for the rest of his days. However after a reshuffle when he went to the Home Office and became one of Baldwin's first lieutenants in the abdication crisis, in 1937 he became Chancellor, reached the Zenith of his career and in 1940 accepted the Woolsack and, as Lord Chancellor, at last found a post to which he was most suited. **** NOT EX LIB **** Price:
15.00 GBP